Unova League, Maybe?
by s15945
Summary: Ash takes a break before leaving for his next journey after the Sinnoh League. In this Ash does not regress to the abilities of a rookie trainer, nor does his age mysteriously regress to a similar point in time.
1. A New Journey, At Last

It had been two years since Ash had been defeated in the Sinnoh League Semi-Final and he had decided that, instead of setting off on a new journey straight away as he had done previously, he would stay home for that time and, instead, focus on strengthening both the bonds that he has with his current Pokémon, as well as his Pokémon themselves. That is how we find him now, at Professor Oak's lab, watching his Garchomp battling against his Infernape. As the battle wound down to a close, Professor Oak came out of his lab and shouted "hey Ash! There's a call for you coming through on the  
>vid-phone."<p>

Ash turned towards the Professor and then turned towards his battling powerhouses and called out "alright you two, that's enough for today." The two Pokémon abandoned their attacks and walked towards the other. The met in the middle and shook hands...er...paws? Ash said "you two have really grown these last two years. So, do you think that we should do what we were talking about now that you've evolved Garchomp?" Garchomp lightly bit Ash's head and Ash, laughingly, said, "I'll take that as a yes." He then headed into the lab to take the call that he had been told about. When he got to the vid-phone, he picked up the receiver and said "Ash Ketchum speaking," as the screen activated, showing the person on the other end to be none other than Liza.

"Hey Ash, how are you?"

"Yeah, I'm great. You?"

"Yeah, I'm good as well."

"So, what can I do for you?"

"Well, it's really more what _I_ can do for _you._"

"What do you mean?" ash asked, frowning in confusion.

"Well, Liza and your Charizard just produced an egg and your Charizard is insistent on your training it when it hatches."

"Really?"

"Yep."

"Well, alright. You called just in time too."

"Really? Why's that?"

"Well, I was just about to set out on another journey."

"Really?"

"Yeah. So, can you send the egg to Professor Oak's Laboratory?"

"No."

"Eh? Why not? You just said that...Oh! Right! It's an egg, you can't. Alright then, I'll swing by the Charcific Valley some time tomorrow."

"Uhh...Ash..."

"Yeah Liza?"

"You _do_ realise that it'll take a lot longer than a few hours to get here from Pallet Town, right?"

"Ohh, au contraire, it really will only take me a few hours. Like I said, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Well, if you say so Ash" Liza said, confusion as to how he would accomplish such a feat written all over her face.

"Alright, see you then."

"Yeah, see ya" Liza said, hanging up the phone.

Professor Oak had come in halfway through Ash informing Liza that he would be leaving on a new journey no later than the next day. After Ash hung up, he asked "so, what's this I hear about you going on another journey?"

Ash sighed and said "well, I've been thinking recently that I've really accomplished all the goals that I set myself for while I'm here, Typhlosion, Feraligatr and Garchomp are all fully evolved and so is Meganium now I'm ready to leave again."

"Well, I've no problems with it, although it will be harder around the ranch with you out adventuring again."

"Eh, you'll have no problems, besides, Amber should be coming round soon enough, shouldn't she?"

"Well, that's true too I suppose. Does your mother know about this though?"

Ash sighed and said "Professor, I'm seventeen now. I think that I shouldn't have to inform my mother of every little thing that I do."

"I'm sure you don't. But you didn't answer my question."

Ash sighed and replied "no I haven't, though I'm almost certain that she somehow knows anyway."

"Yes, well, Delia does seem to be able to predict your moves pretty well. Although your staying here for two years threw her for a loop I think."

"Yes, well, I think that it is high time that I hit the road."

"Yes, well you'd better run home and tell Delia what's going on. I'm sure that she will want to have some kind of going away party."

"Yeah, sure thing. See ya later Professor" Ash said as he left Professor Oak's Laboratory.

I apologize, the first few chapters will be quite short and will be a lot longer once Ash reaches the Unova Region.


	2. Head To Unova

When Ash got home he saw his mother sitting down at the table and she looked up at him and asked "so, you've decided to leave again, haven't you?"

"Yeah" Ash said solemnly.

"When were you going to tell me?"

"Well, now. Although you seem to have known about it beforehand anyway."

"Well, you've never been able to keep a secret from me Ash. Besides, I always knew that it would only be a matter of time before you would want to leave on your next journey. Heh, you're just like your father that way."

"Really?"

"Yes. Well, since I figured that you'd be going soon I decided to make you some new clothes for this journey as well."

"Eh?" Ash exclaimed.

"What? You didn't think that I would let you wear just any old thing that you can buy from a store, did you?"

"Well, I think that I can afford..."

"Oh forget that, these ones will be better suited to travel than anything that you could get in the Pallet Town Department Store anyway."

"Well, alright then" Ash said. "So, they're upstairs in the closet next to your bedroom if you want to try them on before you leave."

"Alright, thanks" Ash said as he went to see the next set of travelling clothes that his mother had created for him. When he got up there he opened the closet he found a vacuum sealed bag that he'd never seen before. He took the bag down and into his room. He opened it and spread the clothes out on his bed. He found, to his pleasure, that there was no distinctive colours or patterns on them. On his bed was a pair of black jeans, a black shirt, black shoes, a blue cloak that you could unzip and take the sleeves off just above the elbow and, to his shock, a hat eerily similar to the one that he had worn at the insert movie 9 contest name here as well as the one that he had seen Riley wearing in the Sinnoh Region. Ash quickly donned the clothes and went downstairs to show his mother. When he got there his mother looked him over once, twice and then, after she gave him the whole 'you look great' speech, he said, "thanks a lot."

"That's fine, I'm always happy to make you some new ones. So, you better go and choose which Pokémon that you are going to be using."

"Nah, it's already taken care of."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Garchomp is going to swing by tomorrow and then he and I'll fly to the Charcific Valley to pick up an egg that Charizard wants me to have before heading to the Unova Region."

"The Unova Region? That's that region up north that only recently opened its borders to Pokémon trainers from the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh Regions, right?"

"Yeah."

"So, I take it that you are going to enter the Unova League?"

"Yeah," Ash dragged out, "I'm not really sure."

"Eh? Ash Ketchum, unsure of something?"

"What? I'm not allowed to be unsure of something?"

"Well, it's just that usually you are so sure of yourself, that's all."

"Yeah, well, it's a new region and nobody around here really knows much about it, so I don't know if the Unova Region even has a Pokémon League."

"Well, alright then" Delia said, content that her son was indeed her son.

The next day Garchomp did as Ash had requested and flown to his house at 7 o'clock. Ash was already up and ready well before Garchomp arrived and was waiting outside his house when he got there. Ash walked up to him as he landed and rubbed Garchomp's head, receiving a light bite in return. Ash laughed and said "alright, that's enough of that." Garchomp released his head and turned away from Ash, and then went down on all fours, allowing Ash to step up onto his back and get into the stance that they had discovered would allow Ash to remain standing on Garchomp's back at the high speeds that they would be travelling at. Ash bade his mother, who had stepped onto the porch as Garchomp landed, farewell as Garchomp took off and then, after circling Ash's house three times, making sure that Ash would be able to redistribute his weight as needed, headed towards the Charcific Valley.

Two hours later Ash, on Garchomp's back, came in sight of the Charcific Valley and, not three minutes later, were landing in the crater that makes up the Charizards' home. Ash and Garchomp were met by five very large, very angry, Charizard. They made their displeasure at the intrusion of Ash and Garchomp, mostly Garchomp, into their home and training ground. They made their anger known by roaring at the tops of their voices, a roar that was consequently laughed at by Garchomp. Needless to say, the Charizard didn't take too kindly to Garchomp's dismissal of the threat that they posed. They each shot a _Flamethrower_ at Ash, as they blamed him for Garchomp's behaviour. Garchomp stood in front of Ash and fired his own flamethrower at theirs, completely negating them. Garchomp then let out its own angry roar at the Pokémon that dared to attack Ash. The Charizard took a step back at the rage that the pseudo-legendary Pokémon was displaying due to their actions. At this point Liza arrived on Charla's back, along with Ash's Charizard flying beside them, coming back from picking up some food for herself in Cherrygrove City. At the appearance of Liza the Charizard looked down and away as if they had _not _just been trying, unsuccessfully, to intimidate Ash and Garchomp. Liza frowned at them and said "alright, what were you five doing?" They all tried to convey their own versions, all false, of what happened. Knowing them to be lying, Liza turned to Ash and asked "alright Ash, what were these five idiots trying to do?"

"Well, if I didn't know better, I would say that they were trying to protect their nests, but, they were trying to show off to those females over there" Ash said, nodding at the female Charizard that had absolutely no interest in what was going on. Although one _did_ seem to be staring awfully hard at Garchomp.

Liza sighed and apologised, saying "I'm sorry Ash, the thing is, it's just entered into the Charizards' mating season and tensions can be rather high at this time."

"Yeah, I know how it is with the Ursaring, I would assume that it wouldn't be too different with the Charizard."

"No, not really...wait, how do you know about the Ursar..."

"Well, when I was in the Johto and Hoenn regions, I seemed to somehow run into a few forests that the Ursaring were using during their mating season."

"I...see..." Liza said.

"Well, that's in the past though, you told me that you had an egg for me?"

"Yeah. That's right!" Liza exclaimed, having completely forgot about why Ash was actually there. Ash's Charizard and Charla had a sweatdrop appear at the side of their heads and Ash covered his eyes with his hand and shook his head. "Alright, follow me" Liza said as she walked off. Ash found his sight lowering as he followed behind her. He had to keep shaking his head to get the thought 'god she has one sexy ass on her' out of his mind. As she walked Liza said "I almost didn't recognize you when I first saw you."

"Yeah, a lot of people tend to say that."

"Well, I don't blame them, you have grown quite a bit since you first left Charizard here all those years ago."

"Yeah" Ash said, thinking back over the times that he'd had with Charizard, the most notable, when they had fought alongside each other against a Dragonite. Garchomp, whom Ash still hadn't recalled, Ash's Charizard and Charla, all followed behind their human trainers, Charla being restrained by Charizard from attacking Ash as she saw him checking out her trainer. Liza turned into a chamber off of the main hallway that they had been travelling down and, as Ash entered after her, he looked around and, all he could say was "wow!" as he saw a large room, at least 10m2, the walls completely filled by Pokémon eggs.

Liza laughingly said "yeah, that's what I said the first time too. I suppose I don't need to tell you that this is where all the Charizard store their eggs. They store them here because it is a lot warmer than it is outside. Now, for your egg." Liza walked over to an egg near the front of the room and picked one up. She walked back to Ash, handed it to him and said "here you are."

Ash looked at it, and then looked at all the other ones and said "this one looks kind of different."

"Yeah, I know," Liza said, "It's not often, but one in every insert odds of getting a shiny Pokémon from an egg Pokémon eggs will give birth to what we consider a 'shiny' Pokémon."

"Oh yeah, I remember reading something about them in the Professors' research data back home. He was using my Noctowl, along with a few of Gary's Pokémon to formulate his results."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I don't think that he's ever really considered the possibility of one of the Regions' starter Pokémon being a 'shiny' Pokémon though."

"Well, here's living, kind of, proof that it can indeed happen."

"I guess so" Ash said.

"Well, if you'd like to follow me a bit further, you can exit through this tunnel instead of going back up to the top."

"Why would I want to do that?" Ash asked, frowning in confusion.

"Well, those Charizard that Garchomp ticked off before, they're, basically, in charge of a few other problematic Charizard and they might try to attack you again, even with me, Charla and Charizard with you."

"Well, alright then" Ash said, placing the egg in his bag.

When they reached the end Liza turned to Ash and said "Well, it's been good seeing you again Ash" as Ash got onto Garchomp once again.

"Yeah, it's been great" Ash replied before taking off of Garchomp, heading towards the Unova Region.

Authors' Notes:

To those of you whom are about to review complaining about the lack of Pikachu in this story, don't. Pikachu is  
>currently taking care of its children at Professor Oak's Laboratory.<p> 


	3. Arrival

8 hours of flight later the Unova Region came into Ash's sight. He yelled to be heard over the wind "We're almost there Garchomp, just a little more and you can have those two Pokéblock that I promised you." Hearing that Garchomp sped up and, not five minutes later, they were on the sandy beach of the Unova Region. As Ash turned back to Garchomp he reached into one of the pockets that his mother had sewn into the inside of his cloak and retrieved the Pokéblock that he had put in there before they left having predicted Garchomp's becoming tired from flying all the way to the Unova Region with Ash on his back. As Garchomp munched on his meal Ash walked up the beach, Garchomp following in his wake. Ash walked up the steps leading to the resort town that he had landed on the shore of and, when he got there, he was astounded by the town he saw. It was a resort town in the truest sense of the word. There were no less than ten high-rise hotels in his sight from the beachfront. Directly in front of him though, was something that gave him great joy, a store that actually sold human food. Ash crossed the street in a rush, followed by Garchomp, and entered the closest store, Garchomp still following.

The person manning the counter looked up at the commotion that he heard from the customers at a Pokémon that they had only seen with one other person, not to mention it being a rather large one at that. The person at the counter asked Ash "Can you please put that thing in a Pokéball whilst in this store? Or at least leave it outside?"

"Why? Garchomp isn't harming anything" Ash replied.

"Maybe so, but it's making the customers uncomfortable."

"Oh, I see," Ash said, he turned to Garchomp and asked "Garchomp, can you wait outside for a bit?"

Garchomp made a sound and then left to stand outside the store. The cashier said "I'm sorry about that, and thank you."

"That's no problem."

"So, what can I do you for?"

"Umm..." Ash said, reading the menu. "How about two battered savs and a small chips?"

"Sure thing" the cashier said, turning around "you're in luck mate, there's only three battered savs left."

"Really?" Ash asked "Where I'm from only a few people know about them, let alone buy them."

"Yeah, well the champion of Sinnoh likes to buy up a lot and then take them up to her villa up on the cape."

"I see..." Ash said "...wait! Cynthia's here?" Ash exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah, d'you know her?"

"Yeah, we crossed paths quite a bit when I was competing in the Sinnoh League a few years ago."

"You competed in the Sinnoh League?" the cashier asked, unconvinced.

"Yeah, sure did."

"What's your name kid?"

"Ash Ketchum, why?"

The man struggled to contain his laughter as he said "you, Ash Ketchum, yeah right."

"What? Why don't you believe me?"

"Because, Ash Ketchum just left here a few days ago, Pikachu 'n' all."

"What?" Ash asked, frowning at learning that there was someone impersonating him.

"Like I said, if you're going to be givin' a fake name, you'd better come up with a different one."

Just then a woman, dressed all in black, with long, blonde, hair entered the store, curious as to who owned the male Garchomp standing in front of the store. She said "Ash?"

Ash turned around and, surprised, almost queried "Cynthia!"

"How are you, it's been a while."

"Yeah, just over two years now."

"Really? Has it been that long?"

"Yeah. Hey, how's Paul doing, I haven't really kept up on the news outside of Kanto."

"He's doing well. As a matter of fact, he just joined the Sinnoh Battle Frontier as a Frontier Brain."

"He's a Frontier Brain! Well, I should've expected him to do something like that."

"By your presence here I take it that you are yet to take Scott up on his offer of becoming one yourself?"

"Yeah, I might after I'm done here, but...until then...nyeh, who knows."

"Who knows? Then you're not participating in the Unova League?"

"I don't really know yet, I just got here from Johto on Garchomp."

"You flew all the way here!" Cynthia exclaimed, knowing what it took to make such a journey, having done so herself a few times.

"Yeah, he's had practice flying all over Kanto these past two years."

"Speaking of which, what have you been up to?"

"Well..."

Just then the cashier butted in, asking Cynthia "Uhh...so you're saying that this kid, really is, Ash Ketchum?"

"Yes. Of course he is" Cynthia replied, looking at the cashier as if he was a fool.

"See, I told you that" Ash said.

"Uhh...then I most sincerely apologise, Ash."

"That's fine, although I _would_ like to know what this imposter was doing here."

"What's this about an imposter?" Cynthia asked, not having come into town when the fake Ash had gone through.

"Well, two days ago someone that called himself Ash Ketchum participated in a battle against my brother to eat for free in his restaurant and won, rather convincingly too, against his Seismitoad and won using only his Pikachu."

"What!" Cynthia exclaimed, knowing that Seismitoad's evolutionary line gains ground-type properties when it evolves the first time.

"Uhh...is there something strange about that?" Ash asked, assuming that, since they were next to a beach, along with the name, that the Pokémon that they were talking about, was a water type.

"Well," Cynthia said, "Seismitoad's also has the properties of a ground-type Pokémon."

"I see" Ash said, finally understanding. "So what're we to do about this?"

"Well," Cynthia stated, "of course we will need to inform the police about this, other than that, there's not too much that you can do right now."

"Well, I suppose so" Ash said.

"Buck up," Cynthia said, "you can stay with me at the villa that the Sinnoh Pokémon League owns whilst they search for him."

"Alright" Ash said and then, the cashier announced "your lunch is ready Ash." Ash turned around and paid the man, having had his money converted over so that it was in the correct currency. "Thank you" Ash said as he handed the money over and walked back outside where he found that his Garchomp was having a riveting conversation with Cynthia's. Ash turned to Cynthia as they exited the store and asked "So, why'd you come here? From what the cashier in there told me, you should have enough food for about three days."

"Well, Garchomp smelled another Garchomp in the area and, since there are no Garchomp occurring in this area naturally, we came out to see who it was."

"I see" Ash said as they walked along the boardwalk, Ash eating and their Garchomp following.

Cynthia's Garchomp called out and Cynthia turned to Ash and stated "Garchomp says that you have something that smells awfully good in one of your pockets." Ash had a sweatdrop appear on his forehead as Cynthia continued "which is truly rather odd, usually she only likes the food that I make her."

"Well, I made a few bars of Pokéblock before I came here for Garchomp for when we landed. I figured that he'd need them to recover his energy from the flight."

"Really? Would it be possible for you to give me your recipe?"

"Yeah, sure, I don't see why not," Ash said, "as long as you give me yours in return."

"Sure thing, although I can also do one thing that will probably help you more in this region."

"Really? Why's that?"

"Well, since until recently Unova has not been open to trainers from other areas they don't know how to make Pokéblock here, of course, this means that there are no Pokéblock making machines."

"Really?" Ash asked, his eyes widening in fear. "So what _do_ they have?"

"They don't have anything."

"What?" Ash exclaimed.

"Berries don't occur naturally here."

"Then what did you mean when you said...?"

Cynthia cut him off before he could finish by saying "well, they don't occur naturally, but that hasn't stopped people growing orchards of them."

"I see" Ash said, and I suppose that the Sinnoh Pokémon League just happens to have one of them?"

"Indeed we do."

"Alright, then..."

"I'll grant you free access to them whenever you need it and I'll also allow you free access to our villa whilst you are in Unova, should you need it."

"Alright, thanks Cynthia" Ash said, his thanks truly heartfelt, having the ability to continue making the Pokéblock that his Garchomp loves to eat.

"Okay then," Cynthia announced as Ash finished his lunch, "here's the police station."

Ash looked up and said, "so it is," as he and Cynthia entered it and went up to the front desk.

They went up to the officer in charge and he completely dismissed them, not even looking up to see them. They weren't very amused by the dismissal of them so they had their Garchomp, that were still yet to be returned to their Pokéballs, and had them roar at the top of their voices, causing the officer to damn near piss his pants. He then looked up at the twin dragon type Pokémon and quickly called out for an Officer Jenny, hoping that there was some law against trying to get an officers attention through the use of some rather dangerous looking Pokémon. When the Officer Jenny arrived at the front desk she looked at the Pokémon and their trainers standing behind them, looking as sickeningly innocent as could be and said "yeah," in a voice that said 'I've seen this all before', "he was dismissing you before he even heard your complaint, didn't he?"

"Yes" Ash and Cynthia both stated.

Officer Jenny rounded on her officer and yelled "Roger! What have I told you about this before?"

"Uhh...pay attention to the charges being pressed?"

"Exactly, and what did you do?"

"Uhh, dismissed them without hearing the charges."

"Grr..." Officer Jenny growled "if you do that one more time, so help me, I'll send you back to the academy!"

"Yes ma'am" Roger, said, not wanting to go back to the academy and thinking, 'right, I'm _definitely_ applying for that transfer.'

"And don't think that I'm going to accept a transfer request from you!"

'Damn that shrewd bitch!' Roger thought

"Now, what seems to be the problem Cynthia?"

"Cyn...Cyn...Cynthia?" Roger stuttered, finally taking a long look at the blonde haired woman that he had been ignoring.

Ash said, "well, Officer Jenny, it seems that someone is going around the Unova Region claiming that they are me."

"What? Why would someone do a thing like that?"

"I wish I knew, but the fact of the matter is that they are and something needs to be done about it."

"Alright, I'll do what I can, but first of all, I'll need you to fill in a formal complaint and then we can go from there."

"Okay, thanks" Ash said, receiving the necessary form from the Officer Jenny.

After Ash handed the form back to Officer Jenny, she said "Well, I'm sorry but I would like to request that you remain here while we search for the impersonator, to avoid any confusion, you understand?"

"Yeah. As a matter of fact, Cynthia has already offered me a place to stay until you do find him."

"Well, thank you. I'll know where to contact you if we need you to come in then."

"Yeah, and thank you very much" Ash said as he and Cynthia turned to leave.

Before they could though, Officer Jenny called out, saying, "OH! By the way..."

"Yes?" Cynthia asked, turning around.

"Can you please return those dragons to their Pokéballs, they might frighten some of the citizens and then I would be forced to arrest you for disturbing the peace."

"Of course," Cynthia said as she looked at Ash. The two trainers took a Pokéball from their belts and pointed them at their Pokémon and, simultaneously, said "Garchomp, return" and a red beam of light shot from the Pokéball to their Pokémon, dragging them back to them. After the Garchomp were back in their Pokéballs, their respective trainers returned them to their belt and then exited the police station and headed to the villa that would be Ash's temporary residence.


	4. First Battle In Unova

When Ash and Cynthia arrived outside the villa they saw that there was a kid banging on the gates of the outside wall. They went up to him, Cynthia placed a calming hand on his shoulder and asked "what seems to be the problem?"

The kid yelled "they said that the Sinnoh Champion wasn't here, but I know that she's been here for the last two months."

"Why do you need to see me so urgently?"

"I don't need to see you, lady" the kid said, not looking to see who was talking to him, "I want to see the Sinnoh Regions Champion, but nobody'll...did you just say that..."

"I'm Cynthia."

The kid looked up and saw that it was indeed Cynthia. He melodramatically announced "Cynthia, I heard that you were here."

"Really? Well, I suppose I shouldn't really be that surprised; word does tend to get around rather quickly these days, and I _have_ been here for about two months now. I suppose its more strange that someone hasn't come looking for me before now. So, what can I do you for? An autograph?"

"An auto...! No! I want a battle."

"A battle?"

"Yeah!"

"With me?"

"Yes."

"hmm..." Cynthia sighed and said "sorry, I'm not in the mood right now. Maybe later."

"What! But I want to battle now!"

"I just told you, I don't feel like it." The kid growled and was about to say something before Cynthia said "Why don't you battle Ash instead?"

"Who?"

"Me" Ash stated.

The kid looked at Ash long and hard before confidently announcing "nah, he looks _way_ too weak to compete with my awesome skills."

"I see," Cynthia stated, "then it's decided, you'll battle Ash and, should you be victorious, I might decide to battle you myself."

"Alright! I'm gonna battle a regional champion!" the kid announced, jumping up in excitement.

Ash turned to Cynthia and asked "do you want me to destroy this kid?"

"No. But I think that he does need a large dose of humility beaten into him before he hurts either himself, or his Pokémon."

"Eh?" the kid asked, not understanding what Ash and Cynthia were talking about.

Completely ignoring the kids question, Ash asked "So, how many Pokémon?"

The kid thought for a minute before announcing "I think that if I'm going to be battling a rookie trainer such as yourself, three Pokémon should allow me to defeat you and keep some in reserve for Cynthia."

Ash turned to Cynthia and said "I forgot how irritating it could be for someone to look so far down on you." He then asked "is there a Pokémon transfer device inside?"

"Yes," Cynthia replied.

"Would I be able to use it?"

"What's wrong with using the Pokémon that you currently have with you?" the kid asked, looking at Ash.

"Well, I just got here and I was actually planning on catching an almost entirely new team, consisting of Pokémon caught in the Unova Region. So I only have one with me."

The kid had a sweatdrop appear, not understanding the reason as to why Ash might attempt such a thing. Cynthia, before the kid could say anything else, replied, "yes, of course you can, come on in," as she opened the gates and walked through them.

Once inside, Ash placed two of his Pokéballs into the Pokémon Transfer Device and then called Professor Oak. "Hey Professor" Ash said, when Professor Oak's face appeared on the vid-screen.

"Why Ash! I must say, I am surprised that you are calling me now."

"Yes, well this kid decided that he wants a Pokémon battle with three Pokémon and, as you know, I only have one with me."

"I see, so, which ones would you like?"

"I think that Feraligatr and Sceptile should do." He thought 'although I'll probably only end up using one of them.'

"Alright, I'll send them over immediately."

"Thanks professor" Ash said as Professor Oak left to retrieve the requested Pokémon.

Ten minutes later Ash was standing opposite the kid that had challenged Cynthia on a battlefield that the Sinnoh Elite Four use to train their Pokémon. Cynthia, on the sideline, said "alright, now this will be a three Pokémon battle, the competitors are only allowed one Pokémon at a time. You will both call out your first Pokémon at the same time, after that substitutions are only available after the first Pokémon has been defeated. Only two Pokémon are to be on the field at once. Are both challengers ready?" Seeing both of them give affirmative answers, Cynthia announced "then begin."

Ash asked "Uhh, kid, I don't think that I got your name before?"

"Oh! Right, sorry. It's Percy."

"Alright Percy," Ash said.

They both withdrew a Pokéball and said "come on out." As Ash threw his, Garchomp appeared. As Percy threw his, out of it, appeared a Tepig. "Uhh..." Percy said before gulping loudly. "Whatever, Tepig, use Magnitude." Tepig raised up on its hind legs as it glowed red and, when its forequarters landed, the ground started shaking. It did however have no effect against Garchomp who, due to an order from Ash, had taken to the sky long before the earthquake started. "Tseh," Percy scoffed. "Tepig, use _Ember._"

Ash sighed at the trainers complete disregard of the current situation and said "wrong move."

"What?" Percy demanded as his Tepig shot many balls of fire at Garchomp.

"This," Ash stated. "Garchomp, take it." Garchomp let all of the fireballs hit him and, when the attack ended, it was completely unscathed.

"Wha..." Percy exclaimed, confused as to how Garchomp was completely uninjured.

"Garchomp is also a ground type Pokémon" Ash explained. "Garchomp, show him a real fire attack. Use Flamethrower." Garchomp breathed a powerful stream of fire at the earthbound Tepig. When the fire died down, Tepig was unconscious with burns all over it.

"Tepig return" Percy stated, his shoulders slumped.

"Now do something that I wish I had done earlier on in my career and think before you make a move."

"Wha..." Percy stated before thinking to himself 'think before I make a move...alright then, what do I know about that...Garchomp, was it?...' "Alright then," Percy said as he withdrew something from one of his pockets. He held it up and said "Garchomp."

The device in his hand was a Pokédex that he had received from the Nurse Joy in his hometown. The Pokédex stated 'Garchomp, the Mach Pokémon. When it folds up its body and spreads its wings, it can fly like a jet plane at the speed of sound.'

"Alright then, what do I have that can compete with something like that?"

"I'll give you a hand and tell you that it is also a dragon type Pokémon."

"Okay, so what do I have that...Ah! I know..." Percy reached behind his back and withdrew another Pokéball after returning Tepig's Pokéball to its slot on his belt. As he threw the Pokéball into the air, he said "come on out, Pidove."

"Huh?" Ash half asked, half exclaimed, dumbfounded by Percy's move. "Alright, you can go first Percy."

"Alright, Pidove, use _Air Cutter_."

"Garchomp, block it." Garchomp crossed its arms so that its fins were protecting it, functioning like a shield.

"Now, _Quick Attack _into _Aerial Ace_."

Ash thought 'that's a trick that I've used a load of times! Still, against a Pokémon like Garchomp, it's not going to matter.' He said "Garchomp, catch it." After Garchomp was ineffectively hit by the air cutter, it dropped its guard and waited for the Pidove to attack it. When it appeared in front of him he quickly grabbed it and, knowing the strategy that Ash was using, as he had done so many times before, when practicing against his swallow, he formed a _Dragon Pulse _and, taking into consideration Pidove's size and relative strength, made sure that it was only half the strength that it would usually be, before hitting the Tiny Pigeon Pokémon with it from close range. After it was hit with the _Dragon Pulse_ Garchomp descended to the ground and gave it to Percy so that it did not suffer any excess damage. Ash stated "That was a good combination that you made just then, where'd you get the idea from?"

"Well I kind of fluked it against the Striaton City Gym Leader's Pansage."

"Wait, the Striaton Gym, you started with a Tepig, didn't you?" Cynthia asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, it's just that, I've been told that traditionally, should the trainer choose a Tepig as their starter, then they should have faced off against a water type."

"That's true, but I asked to be able to challenge all three of them, and they accepted."

"Well, alright then."

"But what I want to know, is how in the world was Garchomp able to stop Pidove?"

"Oh, that," Ash said "well, I also sometimes use that tactic when I'm battling and, well, it makes sense to train your Pokémon to be able to counter your own strategies, otherwise someone might just use them against you, to break your pace. Believe me, it has happened before, and it will, no doubt, happen again, especially if you go to the Sinnoh Region."

"Alright" Percy stated, unsure why Ash was telling him this. Percy sighed and stated "look, obviously I underestimated you, and overestimated myself. I have no further Pokémon that would be able to mount a challenge against you and your Garchomp. It would appear that I still have a long way to go before I can mount a challenge worthy of the title, Champion."

"Hey, believe me, I've lost battles before and always come out the better for it. I'm sure that this battle has shown you something too, hasn't it?"

"Yes, and I thank you for it. But mark my words, I won't lose against you in the Unova League."

"So there is an Unova League then?" Ash asked.

"What?" Percy exclaimed, unable to comprehend anybody not knowing of the Unova League.

"I told you, I just got here from Kanto, I don't know much about this place yet."

"I see" Percy said. "Then, yes, there is an Unova League, it is held in the city above Victory Road. But you'll need to collect eight badges before you can enter."

"I see" Ash said as Percy left, "and thank you."


	5. Rest, and Study

After Percy left Ash and Cynthia went back inside the villa Ash re-transferred his Sceptile and Feraligatr back to Professor Oak in Pallet Town. He then went back to the living room and asked Cynthia "so, what is there to do here?"

"Well, why don't we have a battle?"

"Nah, one a day is good for me, besides, the only Pokémon I have with me is Garchomp, and he's still exhausted from flying here from Kanto via Johto, and then, on top of that, I just had that battle."

"Well, fair enough."

"You can use this time to take care of some of the berries that we grow here. Other than that, there are many books here related to Pokémon in the Unova Region here. Not to mention how to treat a Pokémon's injury. Some of them are the ones that I learned from when I was just starting out. It is doubly important to know how to treat injuries when you have a dragon type."

"Really?"

"Yes. When I've battled against wild Pokémon with Garchomp there have been some really serious injuries inflicted upon them, no matter what they are."

"I see. I think that I shall do so then" Ash replied. "Where are they?"

"They're down the hall and the third door on the left."

"Okay thanks" Ash said as he left the room to go to the villa's library.

Author's Notes

I apologise that this chapter is so short. It's kind of like a lead in to the next one.


	6. New Pokemon

After a week of reading up on healing techniques stuck indoors Ash decided that he would take a walk. When he left the villa he headed north, soon enough he tripped over something lying across the centre of the path and fell on his face. When he looked up a serpentine Pokémon shooting two green vines at him at a high speed, however, before they could hit him, they slowed dramatically and fell to the ground, completely useless. Ash realised that there could only be one reason that an attack like that would fail, is if that the Pokémon that was using it was seriously injured. Ash, concerned for the Pokémon's wellbeing, jumped up off the ground, and rushed over to the Regal Pokémon and, avoiding repeated attempts to attack him, managed to get within nine feet of it, but then he saw its tail taking on a metallic sheen and jumped away, knowing that the metallic sheen meant that the Pokémon knew _Iron Tail_.

Ash, figuring that there was no way that the Pokémon before him was going to allow him to help it, announced, "Alright then, if you aren't going to let me help you as is, Garchomp, come on out," first of all retrieving a Pokéball from his belt and then throwing it towards the Pokémon. Ash stated alright Garchomp, I don't know what kind of Pokémon this thing is, but right now, it's doing more damage to itself than anything else. We need to help it, but, as riley said on Iron Island, sometimes to help a Pokémon, you need to injure it. Use _Flamethrower_." Garchomp breathed a stream of fire at the grass type and, when it was over, the Pokémon was badly burned on top of its previous injuries. Ash said "sorry, whatever you are. But it had to be done." Ash then withdrew a Pokéball from his belt. This was no ordinary Pokéball however. This one was a bright pink with a blue band running the circumference of the ball. The ball also had some beige designs running up it. Ash quickly ran over to the downed Pokémon and, before anything more could happen to it, he dropped to his knees and tapped the Pokémon on the head with the Heal Ball that he had acquired prior to leaving from Pallet Town. The Pokémon was sucked into a silvery light and the ball shook in Ash's hands a few times before making a sound that indicated that he had captured the Pokémon.

He turned to Garchomp and said "thanks Garchomp. I think that it might be a good idea for you to remain out here while I do this next bit." Garchomp let out a querying bark that Ash promptly ignored in favour of showing him. He announced "alright Pokémon, come on out." As the Pokémon appeared out of the Pokéball it said "Ssserrpeerriioorrr." Ash rhetorically asked "I wonder what kind of Pokémon you are. Too bad I left my Pokédex back at the villa." The Serperior cocked its head in curiosity at Ash. "Oh, it's nothing, it's just that if I had my Pokédex with me, I could find out what you are and what you can do. Tell you what, what do you say we go back to the villa and get some brunch?" the Serperior nodded and Ash returned it, and Garchomp to their Pokéballs before heading back to the villa.

When Ash got back Cynthia looked up from the book that she was reading and exclaimed "Ash! I didn't think that you would be back so soon."

"Yeah, well I had actually originally intended to keep on going until around one o'clock before heading back, but I ran across an injured Pokémon and, even though I used a heal ball to capture it, I figured that it couldn't really hurt to come back and check it out thoroughly."

"That's very responsible of you Ash."

"Yeah, well those books that you've had me reading have really expanded my view as to what needs to be done to truly take care of your Pokémon."

Cynthia smiled and said "I thought that they might. When I saw you in the Sinnoh Region the first time, you struck me as being really similar to my best friend."

"Really? Why's that?"

"Well, you both love Pokémon so much that you would probably put your life on the line, just so that a Pokémon wouldn't get hurt, right?"

Ash thought back to the experiences that he had gained whilst with Annabel. Namely the one in which he jumped in front of a Beedrill, just so that it didn't get hurt. "Yeah, I have done so."

"I thought that you may have. She does much the same when it comes to protecting Pokémon."

"Okayy..."

"Well, she happens to own this villa and those books in there are actually hers and she told me that they really helped her when she didn't know what to do."

"Well, alright then. Better get to checking that Pokémon" Ash stated prior to leaving the room.


	7. A New Companion

Two weeks later Officer Jenny turned up knocking on the gate to the villa. When she was let in, she entered into the villa to find that Cynthia and Ash were eating breakfast. She said, "Uhh...I apologise for interrupting your breakfast, but we have caught the person that was impersonating you."

"Really?" Ash asked.

"Yes."

"I don't suppose that you know why he chose _me_ to impersonate?"

"Well, apparently, since you hadn't appeared for some time, and never in this region, he thought that he could pass off as yourself. After all, it is inconceivable that you would not change in over two years."

"I see. Well, thank you. Would you mind if I talked to him."

"No. After all, he has been asking to speak to you as well."

"Really?"

"Yes"

"Any idea why?"

"No. But, in accordance to Unova Region law, an accused _does_ have the right to see their accuser."

"Alright than, uhh...would you mind if I finished breakfast first?"

"No, go right ahea..." before Officer Jenny could finish what she was saying Ash had blurred through the rest of his breakfast and announced that he was done. Ash then went to the room that he had been using whilst he was staying in the villa and got his cloak on and then returned downstairs before following Officer Jenny out and down, into Undella Town. When they reached it they entered the Undella Town Police Station. Once inside Officer Jenny led Ash to the interrogation room that was holding the impersonator.

Once there the impersonator jumped up and, eyes wide, asked "is it you? Is it really you?"

"Of course it's me," Ash stated. "Now what the hell are you doing trying to impersonate a Pokémon trainer for?"

"Well, it's just that, when I'm me, I feel unsure of myself. That's all...really!"

"Eh?" Ash sighed and said "Alright then, look. I've seen your type before and believe me, even if it is a defence mechanism of some sort; it's not going to do you any good in the long run."

"How would you know?"

"I've met someone else who was exactly the same," Ash stated as he thought back to Narissa when he was going around the Sinnoh Region.

"Wha...?"

"A girl named Narissa. She's from the Sinnoh Region and she tends to dress up as Flint of the Sinnoh Regions' Elite Four." Ash sighed and continued, "She goes around with her two Ditto. When I met her she was boasting that she was the best trainer as she'd been challenging some trainer and a Zapdos flew by. But I'll ask again. Why me specifically? I mean, there is a lot of other, better, trainers than me."

"Well, I'm originally from Magenta City and went to Professor Oak's Pokémon School. He used you and Gary as examples all the time. One time he told me that I remind him of you, so I figured..."

"Wow, I didn't think that I'd see another Kanto native so soon."

"Well, in all fairness, I didn't think that I'd run into the real thing over here either...I'm awfully sorry."

Ash sighed and said, "It's fine. Just don't go giving my name, or anybody else's for that matter, as your own. Or something like this may occur again..." Ash looked at Officer Jenny and asked "Officer Jenny, since the only thing that he's really done wrong is impersonate me, is it possible to, you know, let him off with a warning?"

"Well, if you aren't going to be pressing charges, then there is really no other choice."

"Well, that's settled then, if there's nothing else that you need me for, am I allowed to continue on with my journey?" Ash asked. After he was told that there was no longer anything to prevent him from leaving Undella Town he left the police station and headed back to the villa to collect his things.

When Ash had bidden Cynthia farewell and left the gates of the manor he found that the kid that had been impersonating him had actually followed him to the manor. Before he could ask what the kid was doing, the kid said, "Ash, please let me come with you."

Ash looked at the kid as if he were crazy and asked, "Why do you want to do that?"

"Because, I'm really not all that good, and I could use some help along the way, you know."

Ash sighed and said, "Look kid, I'm not going to think for you."

"I wouldn't ask you to."

"I'm not even sure what I want to do while I'm here."

"Aren't you entering the Pokémon League Competition?"

Ash sighed, looked into the sky and said, "A friend of mine once told me that you can't go around challenging gyms forever. In my time off I came to realise that. That's why, when I came here, I came to get a fresh start."

A girl that was passing by heard their conversation and said, "If the Pokémon League isn't your cup of tea, why don't you try contests?"

Ash asked, "They have Pokémon Contests here too?"

The girl replied, "Yeah, this year is actually the first year that they have been held."

"Thank you...umm..."

"Clarissa," said the girl providing her name for the two trainers. "There's actually one being held in one week's time over in Black City. It's also on the way to Nimbasa City. There's a Pokémon Gym there too."

"Alright, thanks Clarissa."

"No problem."

"Well, sure then, I suppose that I can travel with you, at least for a while...what was your name again?"

"Tristan, Tristan Waterflower."

"Waterflower? Are you related to the Cerulean Gym Leaders?"

"Yeah, they're my cousins, why?"

"Oh great," Ash groaned.

"Is there a problem?"

"No no, just ignore whatever Misty says about me, alright?"

"Okay, uhh...why?"

"Because, it won't be anything good, believe me."

"Why not?"

"We travelled together for a while when I was just starting out and, well, I wasn't exactly the same as I am now."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I used Pikachu in a battle against the Pewter City Gym Leader."

"Huh? Why'd you do that?"

"Well, in fairness, all I had at the time was Pikachu, Pidgeotto and Butterfree and Butterfree went down like a ton of bricks."

"Then there's no shame in that, Pidgeotto is really weak against rock types."

"Yeah, but your cousin didn't see it that way. She still doesn't."

"Oh, alright then, so Black City it is."


End file.
